Software

Have you ever wanted to share your screen with someone who wasn’t in the room with you? When this happened, what did you do? Did you use a fancy utility, or did you just shrug it off and not share anything because you didn’t know what to do?

Next time you need to share your screen, you won’t have to worry about this situation. That’s because the makers of LogMeIn (remote desktop access software) have created a new tool – Join.me, an easy to use, free app which makes screen sharing quick and easy.

Join.me is a screen sharing utility which follows the belief that sharing shouldn’t be hard. With this concept in mind, they have made their tool as simple as possible so that you can get right down to business, without having to figure out complicated software.

To begin using their app, go to http://join.me and download and install the free desktop app. They also have a free mobile app for both iPhone and Android phones.

Setup the app, and then click “share” to share your screen with others.

Since late 2010, Google introduced a feature allowing you to sign into multiple accounts at once. With multiple sign in, Google allows you to log into up to 10 different accounts, and access various Google products, all in the same browser.

The problem is the feature is (sort of) hidden, if you don’t know what you are looking for. To sign into more than one account, go to any Google screen (Google search, Gmail, G+) and sign into your main account.

Once you signed in (or if you are already signed in) your name and profile picture (if setup) will appear in the top right hand side of the screen. Click on your name / picture, and you should see some choices appear,

including “Add Account” and “Sign Out.” Click on “Add Account” and sign in with your second (or third or fourth) Google account.

After linking multiple accounts, you can easily switch between them by clicking on your name or picture located at the top right, and then selecting the account you would like to access.

Once that account is selected, you can use any of the Google products setup for that account. When done, repeat the procedure to switch back to your main account.

Using Outlook to Manage Gmail Accounts

Another option for managing multiple Gmail accounts is to set them up in your mail program, like Outlook.

There are some definite benefits to having your Gmail in an email program, such as being able to better manage and organize your email, and being able to setup signatures more easily.

However, there are also some drawbacks to using an email program. Outlook, for example, tends to have IMAP issues when more than 5 Gmail accounts are setup. (To fix this issue, increase your time out time to the max allowed – 10 minutes.)

Additionally, because of the management of multiple accounts, Outlook will occasionally send your Google email through your domain server, instead of through Google’s servers.

These are only small concerns, but are still things to think about when considering using an email program for Gmail administration.

However, either alternative – using Outlook or using Google’s multiple account sign in features, will allow you to access multiple Gmail accounts easily.

Do you have a favorite Google trick? Leave us a comment telling us about it.

Earlier this week, Google announced the rollout of its latest service, Google Drive. This virtual storage space allows you to create and store files in the cloud. Additionally, you can share and collaborate on files, keeping up with changes in real time.

Google Drive quickly differentiates itself from its competitors both by the amount of size they offer for free (a robust 5GB), as well as with a plethora of amazing features that users are sure to love.

One of the more beneficial features is the ability to view over 30 different files types in your browser, even if you don’t have the program installed on your computer. This means you can still view your friend’s shared Photoshop file using your web browser, even if you don’t have Photoshop on your computer.

Additionally, Google Drive allows you to track changes, and saves your revisions, keeping changes for up to 30 days, or choose to keep a particular revision permanently stored, depending on your needs.

You can also download and upload files with ease, regardless of platform. Want to save files from your IPad in your Google Drive and later move those same files to your PC? No problem, Google has you covered and allows you to easily move and save files, no matter what device or computer you are using.

If you want to use Google Drive there is currently a wait list (as Google always does with any new service), so if you want to be one of the first to use it, then go to the Google Drive Sign Up site and request some space. They’ll notify you when it’s ready.